Electorship

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The status or capacity of being a person qualified to cast a vote in an election
2. The condition of holding the official function that allows someone to participate in selecting representatives or leaders
3. The position occupied by an individual who has the right and responsibility to vote in a formal electoral process

Etymology: "Electorship" is a plain formation: the noun "elector" with the suffix "-ship" added. The suffix has a longer history than the base word, since "-ship" descends from a Proto-Germanic root meaning something like "shape" or "creation," which passed through Old English as "-scipe" and Middle English as "-schipe." In Old English it was a productive way to make nouns for a state, condition, or office, and it survives in words such as "friendship" and "kingship." "Elector" itself came into English from Latin "elector," meaning "one who chooses," from the verb "eligere," "to choose out." The English noun has been used for people entitled to vote in elections, and the compound "electorship" follows the same pattern as "lordship" or "chairmanship," naming the rank or condition that carries that right. The word is a transparent coinage with no notable story of its own, so its meaning follows directly from its two parts.